This invention relates in general to computer software, and in particular to a method and system for providing an interface in a data processing system to a communication process which allows a server to scalably connect multiple users for a multi-user game. More particularly, the present invention relates to a method and system by which game developers can connect users to each other, create/join multi-user games, and enable inter-user communications in a scalable manner.
Multi-user games such as xe2x80x9cQuake,xe2x80x9d xe2x80x9cPopulous,xe2x80x9d and xe2x80x9cMUDsxe2x80x9d (Multiple User Dungeons) are proliferate and proprietary with client-server models. The creators of these games are faced with the task of managing multi-user communication which is typically well outside the primary game content or game developer""s expertise. Corporations such as TEN (Total Entertainment Network) are trying to provide a high-level programming interface to achieve this communication goal for game creators. Many such companies are engaged in the competition to provide a simple interface which requires little or no knowledge of multi-user and network programming.
Prior art includes proprietary services that are provided on the Internet by private and publicly available companies such as TEN (Total Entertainment Network) and Microsoft Corporation. TEN""s current implementation relies on the game developer to integrate the game with a proprietary lobby implementation to service users and allow multi-user games to be joined. Microsoft Corporation offers DirectPlay which encapsulates a COM object, thereby requiring the developer to run on Microsoft platforms and requiring the use of a Browser that supports ActiveX. The monolithic architecture of ActiveX dictates a complex programming interface.
The overall concept desired is to provide a game lobby in which users can open a game with their name at a central place so that others may see and join that game. The user can set the criteria for starting this game, such as the number of players or start time, whichever comes first. The present invention enables this paradigm through a platform-independent object model without the burden of multi-user communication management by the game developer. The object model enables the development of game lobby services by multiple vendors and allows games to freely operate with any of these lobby implementations.
The present invention relates to a method and system for providing a game lobby and game session for a game developer in a multi-user environment.
Another object of the invention is to provide a seamless object model to facilitate any multi-user game.
Another object of the invention is to provide a simple programming interface for a multi-user environment.
Yet another object of the subject invention is to provide scalability without restricting the use of the communication system within certain types of networks.
Still another object of the invention is a seamless configurable clustering of servers to optimally facilitate scalable user connections to create games and join games via a game lobby.